In his book, Rick suggests doing the above. When I looked at the timetable, it appears that it involves 3 'changes'--one at 1 a.m. Is that right? Doesn't sound like fun! Has anyone done this run?
I haven't done this run but was planning on doing Eger-Kosice this summer so looked this up on DB. Your information seems correct as it shows 3 separate trains. The last one cannot be avoided as Eger is not on the main train line - so you have to change at Fuzesabony.
I'm curious whether the change at 1 am is a true train change or just a change of the train #? If the former I agree that this wouldn't be fun. It is possible that the trains/schedules have changed since Rick recommended this.
Night direct train Krakow - Budapest goes different route now so there is no easy way to get to Eger from Krakow.
Oh, thanks for the update. That is important to know. Don't know what we will do now, maybe skip Eger altogether. Or has anyone hired a driver, or rented a car to go Krakow to Eger? We like driving, but worry about the drop off fees in another ocuntry.
We took the night train from Krakow to Eger. The train was from Krakow to Budapest, but dropped us in Eger. We never did change trains. We departed Krakow around 10pm and we got dropped off in Eger around 6:45am. Didn't get alot of sleep, but we felt safe and enjoyed Eger. The wine caves there and the home made bulls blood wine was a great experiance. So were the public baths and market. We bought our ticket off the main square in Krakow. You can see pictures of our trip at our blog at: http://gadtravel.blogspot.com
Transportation in that part of Europe is primitive; so I think Mark's report sounds accurate. We can't expect travel to be perfect wherever we go. I have found it all part of the adventure.
Take a look at Mark's photos. they are really good. When you get to the home page of the blog, click on Warsaw-Poland.
If nothing else, take the train to Budapest, stay there the night and go to Eger the next day. Eger isn't a 'must-see' but I definitely recommend it. But then again Hungary is one of my home-away-from-homes, so there isn't much there that I don't recommend. ;) I assume you were planning to spend some time in Budapest anyway?
I have a good friend from Hungary who swears by the bus transportation between Krakow and Budapest and then onto smaller towns like Eger. He buys his tickets in Hungary, which doesn't help you, but you might look into it as another option.
Also, on a trip from Vienna to Krakow, our train had a change - meaning that our last car of the train actually got dropped off by the rest of the train, and then we got picked up by another train that was coming through on the same track. We never left our car, but switched trains entirely... could this be what it means?